This last side-dish from our Thanksgiving in May roundup comes from Ellie Krieger, who often features lower-fat versions of classic recipes. Since we had about two gallons of butter in our stuffing, it was nice to pretend that we were having a light meal with the addition of this Sweet Potato and Pecan Casserole. The pecan topping was delicious and crunch-tastic.

Chris says:

Well, it’s over, this Thanksgiving of ours…

Lisa says:

Noooo, it can’t be!

Chris says:

Don’t worry, it’ll live on in leftovers and blog posts.

Lisa says:

Blog posts? Yeah, right… with the kid coming, we won’t have time for that.

Chris says:

Don’t you see? It’s perfect! We probably won’t get to posting it until late spring, or even summer! Then we’ll be able to look back upon these dishes and salivate all over again!

Lisa says:

Oh, so like instead of “Christmas in July”, we’ll have “Thanksgiving in May”?

Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a pot with a large steamer basket in place. Put the sweet potatoes in the basket, cover and steam until tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the potatoes to a bowl and let cool slightly. Add the honey, egg, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, the nutmeg, ginger and 1/2 teaspoon salt; whip with an electric mixer until smooth. Spread the sweet potato mixture in the prepared baking dish.

Mix the brown sugar, pecans and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a bowl; sprinkle over the potatoes. Bake until hot and beginning to brown around the edges, 40 to 45 minutes.

Welcome back to Thanksgiving in May! This is the most buttery, herby, shroomy, deeeelish stuffing we’ve enjoyed in a long time. I went searching for a new stuffing recipe and when I stumbled upon this one at food52 I knew I found our winner. The most difficult part of this recipe was tracking down a loaf of challah in the days leading up to the holiday.

Lisa says:

Oh my god, I forgot about this one.

Chris says:

Not me — I loved how buttery it was, and the texture was awesome — almost like a bread pudding.

Cut the challah into 1″ cubes. Leave the cubes out on a parchment lined sheet pan, on the counter, to get stale, at least overnight and preferably 3 days.

Melt 3 oz of butter in a large heavy pan. Saute the onions until wilted, add the herbs, celery and mushrooms and cook until just slightly cooked thorough.

In a large bowl, combine bread cubes, vegetables, melted butter and vegetable stock, and salt and pepper. Test for seasoning and adjust.

Press stuffing into a large buttered baking dish. Cover with buttered parchment and then foil. At this point, the stuffing can be held for several hours, but should be at room temperature before baking.

Bake at 350° for 45-55 minutes, the last 10-15 minutes without the foil and parchment, to crisp the surface.

We heart larb, and we used to make larb gai all the time, but with Lisa being on a veggie kick lately, we introduced this version into the mix. Instead of chicken, I used a mix of various mushrooms we had on hand — shiitake, cremini, and good old white button. It was delicious! One thing to note is that after sauteeing the mushrooms you should try to get as much excess liquid out as you can — you’ll be adding more liquid via lime juice and fish sauce, and you don’t want to end up with a soupy mess. Also, I noticed this version warranted a greater fish sauce to lime juice ratio than when done with chicken.

Spray a nonstick skillet with oil and heat to medium. Add in the chopped mushrooms and cook until they release their water and start to brown. Remove from the heat and put in a strainer to drain excess liquid. Add the mushrooms to a large bowl and stir in the rice powder, cilantro, green onions, shallots, and mint leaves. In a separate small bowl, mix together the fish sauce, lime juice, chile paste, and cayenne pepper. Taste for desired levels of spicy/salty/sour. Add to bowl with mushrooms, stir, and adjust seasonings. Garnish with cilantro sprigs and serve with cabbage leaves to scoop.

Another easy recipe from Barefoot in Paris — this time, a simple side dish to contribute to a recent dinner gathering. Our garden is still producing tomatoes and zucchini, and we had some veggies left over from our last CSA box, so we adapted the recipe to use those up — the only item we didn’t have on hand was the potatoes. A casserole dish is filled with softened onions, then the vegetables are packed in a single layer on top, roasted, topped with shredded gruyere, and baked again until browned. Awesome.

Lisa says:

Holy crap, are you sure we have to bring this over?

Chris says:

What do you mean?

Lisa says:

Can’t we just eat it all now and claim we forgot to bring something?

Chris says:

Bzzzzt… too late, I already told them what we were planning on bringing.

Lisa says:

Dammit! Okay, but I’m not going to be able to wait very long before digging in.

Chris says:

Well don’t dig in yet, I gotta take a picture first, and this is a pretty dish!

Brush a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking dish with olive oil. In a medium saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and cook the onions over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Spread the onion mixture on the bottom of the baking dish.

Slice the potatoes, zucchini, squash, carrots, and tomatoes in 1/4-inch thick slices. Layer them alternately in the dish on top of the onions, fitting them tightly, making only 1 layer. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, thyme leaves, and thyme sprigs and drizzle with 1 more tablespoon of olive oil. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Uncover the dish, remove the thyme sprigs, sprinkle the cheese on top, and bake for another 30 minutes until browned.

Before we get to the couscous, I wanted to let Android and iPhone users know that starting today you’ll see a new, faster-loading version of this site when viewing with your mobile browser. You’ll still be able to leave comments, search, and access everything as usual, but in a more convenient, better-formatted version. This is accomplished with the excellent WPTouch plugin, which automagically detects your browser and displays the mobile version. If you wish to use the full-featured version, you can click the link at the bottom of the page. Enjoy! Okay, back to it…

This simple recipe comes from Barefoot in Paris, which we inherited from Megan before she started tramping across the globe. Carrots, squash, zucchini, and onion are oven-roasted and then mixed with a richly-flavored couscous prepared butter, chicken stock, and saffron threads. It’s supposed to serve as a side dish, but we had it on its own, without feeling like we were missing out on the main event.

Lisa says:

…don’t forget to mention how buttery it tastes!

Chris says:

Wow, we haven’t even star–

Lisa says:

So buttery!

Chris says:

Geez! Yeah, it’s buttery, and combined with the saffron makes for nice, intense flavoring. I really like it.

Lisa says:

And all the veggies either came from the back yard or the CSA box, that’s always fun.

Chris says:

Yep — I do like not having to do special shopping trips for what would otherwise be a really quick dinner.

Lisa says:

Okay, you finish typing this up, I’m going back to this buttery, saffron-y delicous dish.

Preheat oven to 375 F. Place the butternut squash, onions, carrots and zucchini on a baking sheet and toss with the olive oil, 2 tsp salt, and 1 tsp pepper. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, until all the vegetables are tender, turning once with a spatula.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring the chicken stock to a boil and turn off the heat. Add the butter, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, the cumin and saffron threads and allow to steep for at least 15 minutes.

Bring the chicken stock just back to a boil. Place couscous and cooked vegetables in a bowl and pour the hot chicken stock over them. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let stand for 15 minutes. Add the scallions, toss the couscous and vegetables with a fork and serve warm or at room temperature.